


Fire & Ice

by wolfgun



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Klanceweek2k16, M/M, and almost kills lance, coran still cant fucking cook, day 5: ice/fire, klanceweek, not really but he could have, the paladins of voltron discover they have elemental powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-08
Updated: 2016-08-08
Packaged: 2018-08-07 09:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7710586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfgun/pseuds/wolfgun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And that wasn’t all the paladins of Voltron experienced, either. Halfway through their trek into the Oculan star system, Lance discovered a new power.</p><p>He woke up that morning with all his bones absolutely <i>aching</i> and <i>cold</i>--he couldn’t figure out why--but they <i>had</i> eaten Coran’s food goo concoction last night. It was this weird dish that he called nemalion; some kinda red, spindly vegetable (hopefully) that he steamed and mixed with the goo. The paladins had just sat in silent horror at the dining table, until Lance leaned over and whispered to Keith,</p><p>“I think mine just moved.” The two of them gulped, watching their plates with renewed concentration.</p><p>[in which Coran almost poisons the paladins, Lance is the first to discover his new powers, and Keith is the last.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire & Ice

In between defending the universe’s many planets and systems, fighting and running from Zarkon’s expansive military strength, and growing as a team, there were many things that started to happen as a result of the bond.

 

The first was telepathy. Not really the invasive kind, but if someone wanted to, they could send a thought or feeling to another paladin. In the beginning, it was a mess; Lance and Keith were always sending their emotions over the connection, spilling out anger or happiness or sadness; Pidge sent out annoyance and frustration as he tinkered with his technology, and elation when he made a breakthrough. Hunk’s mind was a buzz of thoughts, worry and warmth among the most prevalent of them. Shiro was a reassuring presence at the back of their minds, prodding and respectful, but also firm.

 

And that wasn’t all they experienced, either.

 

Halfway through their trek into the Oculan star system, Lance discovered a new power.

 

He woke up that morning with all his bones absolutely _aching_ and _cold_ \--he couldn’t figure out why--but they _had_ eaten Coran’s food goo concoction last night. It was this weird dish that he called nemalion; some kinda red, spindly vegetable (hopefully) that he steamed and mixed with the goo. At dinner the previous night, the paladins had just sat in silent horror at the dining table, until Lance leaned over and whispered to Keith,

 

“I think mine just moved.” The two of them gulped, watching their plates with renewed concentration.

 

The entire table looked at Lance and then to Coran, who was anticipating their reactions with a broad smile. Shiro picked up a sporkful of the nemalion, glancing around him expectantly at the paladins at the table, and they all raised their sporks as well.

 

“As a team,” Shiro whispered, and the paladins gave the tiniest of nods. Then, without any more deliberation, they shoved the sporks into their mouths.

 

It was definitely odd; the goo had been fine, even _heavenly_ compared to the taste of the red, stalk-like vegetable underneath. Keith let it fall back onto the plate from his open mouth, while Lance outright spit it out; Shiro and Hunk swallowed, and Pidge froze with the food in his mouth. Hunk started to turn purple, shivering slightly.

 

“Coran, what the _quiznak_ is this!?” Lance was in the process of wiping off his tongue, gulping his water. “It’s like--it’s _slimy_! I thought you said this was a vegetable, not a slug!” Coran colored slightly, frowning at the obvious negative responses.

 

“Why, it’s a traditional Altean dish! By the gods, I used to eat it all the time with my grandad--especially when I was a little kid, I used to look forward to--”

 

“That--that wasn’t food! That was… that was..” Hunk’s eyes darted around the room, and finally back to his plate. He heaved forward slightly, covering his mouth. “... Think I’m gonna be sick,” he mumbled through his hand, getting up and hastily moving out of the dining room. No doubt going to the bathroom.

 

Keith pushed his plate away, glaring at it. Pidge hadn’t moved.

 

“I… Well, I didn’t expect you all to be so averse to Altean culinary art! This stuff--It’s not bad, really!” As if to show everyone (minus Hunk) how good it really was, he dunked his own spork into the mix and tasted it. “See! It’s--” Coran halted, chewing slowing down and face paling a bit. He gulped, and then cleared his throat.

 

“See? Coran, _you_ can’t even handle what you made!” Lance put his plate on top of Keith’s, and pushed them further away.

 

“It… It wasn’t that bad…” He frowned at the table, and the paladins exchanged glances.

 

“It was just fine, Coran. How about we try it next time, when you have time to perfect it?” Shiro, always the comforter; although this just seemed to make Coran sulk more intensely. Allura eyed the dish carefully, poking at it with her own spork. She decidedly put the utensil down and smiled.

 

“Yes… perhaps…” Coran sighed.

 

“Uh… guys,” Keith said, jerking a finger towards the green paladin. “Is Pidge okay? He just… stopped.”

 

“What do you mean? He can’t just stop.”

 

“No, Lance. Look at him. He still has the spork in his mouth.”

 

“... Did you try turning him off and back on again?” Keith and Lance crowded around Pidge. Lance poked his cheek. He didn’t move. “Hey, do you think we could draw a face on him?”

 

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to die.” Lance nodded, rubbing his chin in contemplation.

 

“Well, how do you supposed we snap him out of it?” Keith just shrugged at Lance’s question.

 

“Maybe we have to say something to him that shocks him more than the horrible taste of the food.” Coran’s outburst of ‘Hey!’ was ignored, and Lance nodded some more, then snapped his fingers.

 

“I got it!” He leaned down close to Pidge’s ear. “Pidge, if you don’t turn back on, I’m going to color Rover pink. And complete it with sparkles and flowers. Maybe I’ll even put rainbows--” A fist uppercut Lance square in the jaw; he was sent stumbling backwards as Keith snickered. Pidge promptly took the spork out of his mouth, with the nemalion still on it, and stood up from the table.

 

“I,” he said, glasses flashing, “am going to my lab.” Shiro pinched the bridge of his nose as Pidge left.

 

And that had been the end of that debacle, no doubt leaving Coran’s poor old uncle heart broken. But hey, the paladins were still alive, so if it made Coran a little sad they didn’t eat his concoction… Well.

 

Now, Lance headed into the kitchen a bit hesitantly, afraid of running into Coran. He didn’t want to have to explain that he was getting sick because he ingested Coran’s poison. Hunk was standing there instead, making himself a hearty breakfast of food goo, and Lance sighed with relief. Classic.

 

“Hey, Lance,” Hunk said, glancing up. His brows furrowed at Lance’s posture; it was a bit off. “You alright?” Lance waved the comment away.

 

“Yeah, yeah. Nemalion. Anyway, you seen Pidge? He didn’t die, did he?”

 

“Nah. Though he did sleep for a long time. He just went to his lab and passed out.” Hunk squirted a bit of goo onto Lance’s plate.

 

“Huh… interest--” Lance was immediately cut off by the alarms blaring throughout the castle, Allura’s voice coming in from the speakers.

 

“Paladins! We’ve picked up a distress signal coming from a planet in this system. Get to your lions, and standby.”

 

Hunk and Lance exchanged glances, then ran out of the kitchen, food goo forgotten.

 

They met the rest of the paladins outside the castle, and waited for Allura’s instruction. They didn’t have to wait long; a window appeared in each of their lions, showing the princess’s face. Her expression was serious and voice firm.

 

“Our scanners are picking up a disturbance on the planet Ceros; it’s not very advanced, and we're only detecting the barest amount of life.” An image of a large forest-like complex in the middle of what looked like an ocean popped up onto their monitors, the signal a red dot in the middle of it. “Whatever is here, it’s in the thick of that jungle.”

 

“Yes--” Coran spoke up from behind her. “That there is water, apparently; ideal for a Galran resource. It looks, though, that if there’s any Galra influence, it’ll be in primary stages of contact.”

 

“So, your mission is recon--” three coordinates for landing points popped up on their screens. “See what the problem is, report it back; and then we can come up with a plan.” Allura explained that Hunk and Pidge would go to the west side of the coordinate, and sweep the area, moving towards the source of the signal. Shiro would approach from the south, and Lance and Keith would land in the area to the northeast and work toward the center.

 

And so they put their lions into gear, flying down quietly. Almost the entire north and east area was covered by a huge expanse of water; it made Lance slightly nostalgic as he touched down. He let out a breath, and was surprised to see it float upwards in the air. A shiver ran through him, and he suddenly realized how cold he was. That nemalion really had to be banned.

 

“Lance? You coming?”

 

“Yeah. Be right there,” he replied, watching on his screen as Keith hopped from his lion down to the shore below. They had parked their lions in a spot outside of the dense forest; it seemed like the roots of the trees were entangled to create a mass of ‘land,’ as when Lance’s feet hit the roots a second, he saw water trickling underneath.

 

“Come on,” Keith said, jerking his chin towards the midst of the trees. The comms sparked as Hunk’s voice came through.

 

“We’ve landed and are in position,” came his quiet announcement, and Keith responded.

 

“So are we.”

 

“Good,” came Shiro a second later. “Proceed to the distress signal. Move cautiously; we don’t know what these trees hide.”

 

Lance fell into step behind Keith, who was swinging his bayard through the thick vines and foliage to clear a path. If this mission were anywhere in the beginning of their formation of Voltron, Lance would’ve argued profusely at how he didn’t need _Keith_ of all people to lead the way.

 

But now, he stepped in silence, watching the way Keith’s muscles rippled under the fabric of his suit with each swing, staring at the way nature cleared for him. It seemed to be taxing work, and sweat easily beaded on his brow and neck. Lance just frowned, waving a hand experimentally in the air, and then retracted it, shivering.

 

Coran had said the forest was jamming their analysis, so they were pretty much going in dark. While they could communicate with each other, signal to the castleship was cut off. There would be a 30 minute walk to the source of the distress signal, they would clean up, and then leave. Easy. But Hunk voiced the same uncertainty Keith was feeling.

 

“Uh, guys… I don’t mean to _always_ be the worrywart but--I don’t think…” A pause and a crackle on the comm, and then he started again. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.”

 

Shiro murmured some quiet reassurances, and the comms lapsed into silence, but that pervading sense of unease still sat, stagnating in between the bond the paladins shared. 

 

But as the walk stretched, so did Lance’s nerves. He caught Keith looking back at him every once and a while, and he frowned at the water underfoot. It was dark and black, and looked more like oil under the thick canopy.

 

“Keith,” he said, frowning as his breath billowed out in front of him. “Something’s wrong.” Keith huffed, stopping their advance as he let his sword drop.

 

“What is it?” His shoulders moved with each breath he took, twisting back to look at Lance.

 

“Uh… is it hot out?” Keith cocked an eyebrow at him.

 

“Can you not--”

 

“Just answer me,” he said, and the urgency in his voice must have gotten through, because Keith stepped down from a root and turned to him fully.

 

“... Yes,” he said, eyeing the blue paladin, like he suddenly noticed Lance's odd posture and slight tremor. “It’s really hot and humid. How are you not… ?” He moved forward and raised his hand to grab Lance’s, and immediately recoiled at the touch.

 

“What the _hell_ ? It’s like--you’re so _cold?”_ He took Lance’s wrists in his hands and frowned, then motioned for Lance to take off his helmet. When he did, Keith put both his hands on the side of Lance’s face, making him shiver. “Lance, you’re ice cold.” He chuckled softly, suddenly.

 

“Alright, alright, alright, alright, alright--” His joke was rewarded when the corner’s of Keith’s lips quirked into a slight smile and he snorted; but then it quickly faded, and his face grew more serious. His eyes searched Lance’s face.

 

“No, Lance--really. When did this start?” Not to be like, _that guy_ or anything, but Keith’s warm hands on his face felt _nice._ They kept moving around to check his forehead and neck, and Lance hummed. “Lance.”

 

“Uh, this morning. I woke up and I was so cold…” He frowned for a moment. “Hey, do you think Pidge messed up the settings in my room? Like, temp--”

 

“Lance, you should be going into hypothermic shock.” His face was scary as he turned on his comms again. “Shiro--there’s something wrong with Lance.” He was answered immediately, noting the worry in Shiro’s voice.

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“Uh, well--I’m not sure if it’s _dire_ , but Lance is _cold.”_ There was a beat of silence.

 

“Uh, Keith,” Pidge interrupted, “this isn’t any time for your relationship probl--” Keith frowned at the mention of _relationship,_ but cut him off before he could continue.

 

“No, he’s _cold._ Like, his breath is billowing as if it’s winter and he’s cold to the touch. He shouldn’t be standing, shouldn’t be--Shiro, he said that this has been happening since this morning--he shouldn’t be _alive.”_ At Keith’s words, Lance froze. Not literally, though apparently he _should_ be frozen. And dead.

 

“Okay,” Shiro said. “How does he feel? Like, Lance--How’re you feeling?”

 

“Uh, well--” Lance shrugged. “Normal? I mean, I’m a bit cold, yeah, but otherwise I feel fine. I’m just not gross and sweaty like Keith.” Keith took his hands off of Lance, and Lance had to mask his disappointment.

 

“Sorry for being _gross_ and _sweaty,_ ” Keith grumbled.

 

“Then I think… it should be fine. We’re almost to the source, and we can regroup and assess Lance then.”

 

Lance nodded, and onward they went. Keith’s glances backward increased, and Lance found it slightly endearing. He turned his comm off.

 

“Aw, Keith,” Lance said, briefly distracted by his breath. “Are you worried about me?” Keith just paused in his swing and fixed him with a cold, gray stare.

 

“I’m worried that I’m gonna have to lug your cold, dead body back to our lions,” he deadpanned, and Lance closed his mouth with an audible snap, his eyebrows shooting up.

 

“Uh, well--That’s not gonna happen,” he said, following Keith once again as he began once again to chop with his bayard.

 

“It better not,” he heard Keith growl.

 

{--+--}

 

When they arrived at the signal’s source, they saw a huge, deep pool; surrounded by tall trees on all sides. The depths of the water seemed to sparkle, and Lance felt that same unease from when he peered into the water before, but also a sense of wonder. This was an  _alien planet,_ and okay, so they've been to a ton of those by now, but it didn't mean the shock factor had completely worn off yet. He caught Keith glancing around with the same expression, but when the red paladin noticed him looking, he quickly schooled himself to something more neutral. 

 

“Lance!” Hunk ran up to him and placed two hands in his shoulders, eyes immediately widening. “Holy shit,” he whispered, taking his hands off. Lance blew a greeting in the air between them, breath swirling, and Keith frowned. It seemed to be thicker than the last time they talked, which meant Lance was growing _colder_.

 

Pidge poked Lance’s side and hummed, and stepped away for Shiro to come and assess him. Keith, meanwhile, stooped into a loose crouch and peered into the pool, frowning. His skin was starting to prickle; while it was pretty... it was also... disturbing him.

 

“Lance,” Shiro said, reaching up to feel his forehead. He blinked several times, and then moved his touch to Lance’s chin, then his shoulders, and down to his hands. “Huh,” was all he said.

 

“Uh, anyone else seeing no source of the distress signal anywhere near this pool?” Keith's frown deepened, and he glance around at the edges and the trees.

 

Before anyone could answer, a deep, vibrating roar thrummed throughout the forest; causing the water to ripple. Keith stumbled backwards, and a long, serpent-like beast emerged from the water.

 

The paladins stared at it for a good few seconds, before Lance broke the spell.

 

“I think I figured out what the signal is for!”

 

“Get back! To the trees--”

 

“The pool extends _under_ the trees!”

 

The creature spit out a jet of water, hitting Keith directly in the chest as he stood, sending him flying into a tree behind. He gasped at the force, sliding down to rest on the forest roots.

 

“Keith!” Lance started to run towards him, but Pidge’s scream distracted him, and turned to find Shiro try to catch the smaller paladin as he was sent flying much like Keith; Lance winced as the two of them hit the ground.

 

The creature bellowed again as Hunk fired his bayard into its face, and it momentarily disappeared under the pool, its figure becoming a twisted set of shadows.

 

Lance pulled Keith up, and the red paladin knocked a fist into his chestplate, to show he was fine, just winded. The serpent resurfaced, and Lance wasted no time in manifesting his own gun and firing away.

 

Keith pushed himself away from Lance, and Lance frowned, until he saw a bit of frost coat Keith’s arm. _Oh._

 

He grunted as he was swept off by a jet of water. Lance didn’t get thrown into a tree, but got tripped up by the roots and tumbled for a good ten feet, until colliding in an odd position into a trunk. He opened his eyes to find that he was now _stuck,_ because the water had turned into _ice._

 

“Oh, _come on!_ ” He banged at the encasement with his free hand, grumbling about how Pidge needed to fix the damn thermostat in his room and he needed to stop eating Coran’s food. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his teammates fleeing and firing at the serpent, Shiro and Pidge protecting Hunk as his gun went off.

 

He reached towards his own bayard, which had fallen from his grip and landed a foot out of range. He cursed loudly.

 

A red flash in his peripheral caused Lance to jerk his head towards it; and of course, there was Keith, sword in hand and running at the serpent.

 

“Keith! You idiot, _no!_ ” His outburst had Hunk’s attention, and Hunk ceased fire as Keith jumped as the roots ran out under his foot, sword raised and ready to plunge into the serpent. He managed to stab into the side of its jaw, catching the serpet before it had a chance to hit him; Keith just barely managed to twist and recover his bayard as he was flung off straight into Shiro.

 

“Lance, stop fooling around!” Pidge screamed from somewhere to his right, and he struggled, scratching at the ice. His teammates converged around eachother, and with a jolt, Lance realized that was the _wrong move._  The serpent lunged at Hunk, Shiro, Pidge, and Keith; and Lance felt white-hot panic envelope him. He reached towards the four of them, thinking about how _awful_ it would be to see his second family die right before his very eyes--

 

“No!” He clenched his teeth and screwed his eyes shut, hand still outstretched, and waited. He waited for the sound of screaming, the stench of blood, of the serpent _gulping._ But he didn’t hear it.

 

Instead, his ears were filled with the sound of crackling, and when he dared open an eye to asses the damage, they both flew open.

 

What he saw rendered him speechless; the serpent was now completely frozen, trapped inside a thick layer of ice. Its jaws were inches from his friends, who were still cowering in anticipation of the attack. Lance blinked, jaw hanging open, and wiggled to release himself from his own ice. Astonishingly, it fell away as water, and he was free to scramble up and run towards his team.

 

“I’m… alive? What the fuck?” Pidge said, opening his eyes and trying to peer around Hunk. When he did, he jumped at what he saw. “What the _fuck!?”_

 

“Pidge, Language,” came Shiro’s rasp, and Keith was just staring up with a slightly dazed expression, hand still gripping his bayard.

 

“Well,” Hunk said, letting out an _eep_ at the side of the beast’s jaws, _seconds_ from eating him alive, “now we know why Lance was so _cold.”_

 

Keith’s face suddenly lit up, and he jumped up to meet Lance, pulling him into a half-hug, half headlock.

 

“What the hell! And here I thought we were gonna die!” Lance smiled at the contact, waving an arm to try and pry Keith off him, but a wave of exhaustion overtook him, and with a groan, he slumped in Keith’s hold.

 

“Woah--Lance?” Keith adjusted his hold to better accommodate Lance, the two of them sinking to the ground. Lance’s vision swam, and he saw the rest of his teammate’s faces--and he was about to tell them how ridiculous they looked, with all that _worry--_ but a black tide washed over him and effectively put an end to that.

 

{--+--}

 

Much in this way, the rest of the paladins gained their _‘hidden’_ abilities. When they made it back to the castleship after Lance’s icy display, Allura explained it to them, surprise evident on her face.

 

After the team can form Voltron, several different things can happen. As the bond grows stronger, the power they gain and the abilities they manifest is directly proportionate. Telepathy was one, and now this was another.

 

And it was only a matter of weeks before the next ability presented itself--the paladins were in a cave system on a planet of rock and desert when the caverns began to crumble due to explosives.

 

A ripple was seen throughout the tunnels, and then the rock around them started caving in; Hunk had saved them all as he created a dome around him and the rest of the team. He had also guided them out of the entombment when he made a tunnel, all the while nervously babbling and wondering if he was going to have any side-effects, like Lance.

 

Despite going back to the castle after a mission success and sleeping for the next 24 hours, there was nothing else that happened.

 

Pidge informed everybody one lazy day on the comms that he could apparently revive a plant, and everyone raced down to his lab to watch as he took a sample from a planet they had been on recently, and induced it to grow. He then made it wither, and everyone was astounded to watch those brown leaves and puckered stem turn back into a vibrant, lush green.

 

Shiro was next. It was in the midst of an attack on an enemy base; he was shoved by the commander into a wall, the force of it driving his head to smack painfully against the metal. His vision blurred as the Galra put him in a choke hold, his robotic arm whirring as he tried to pry him off.

 

Keith had come in at the very last second, punching the commander square in the jaw. It knocked him with enough force to where he released his hold on Shiro, causing the black paladin to slump onto the ground and gasp for breath. The only downside to this was that Keith was now being forced backwards, bayard materializing--but too slowly.

 

The commander drew his arm back and punched Keith in the jaw, and Shiro’s blood ran cold when heard a sickening _crack_ reverberate around the room. He yelled for Keith as another punch was thrown, and tried to get up.

 

His legs failed him, head still reeling from lack of oxygen; He watched Keith stagger backwards, blood running from his nose and mouth, and the commander pushed them to the wall. Shiro slammed his robotic fist onto the floor of the ship, and watched as bits of the metal came up, floating into the air. He frowned at the metal, and suddenly, he knew what to do.

 

“Keith! Duck!” As Keith let his legs buckle from underneath him, Shiro reached his hand toward the Galran commander and willed him to move, willed the wind to whip him away from Keith; and he felt elation fill him as he saw that purple fur ruffle. He clung to the feeling, letting it grow stronger; and all at once, as everything just _clicked--_ the commander flew towards the opposite wall, hitting it with a hard thud, and slid down to the ground, lifeless.

 

Keith shook himself, and then stood from his place against the wall, and wobbled over to Shiro. The leader had collapsed from the strain, just like Lance had, and Keith sighed in relief as he saw Shiro was still breathing.

 

{--+--}

 

And the last of all to gain their powers was Keith.

 

It didn’t even start on a designated day; suddenly, Keith was too hot. Not in Lance’s _whistle_ kind of hot, but just disgustingly, _grossly_ sweaty hot.

 

It first showed itself when he was training, where he would be slick with sweat within minutes of fighting the gladiator; at first, Keith was ecstatic. It had basically been a given that he would have fire power, and everyone was waiting for it to flare up.

 

But after a day or two, he began to hate it.

 

They were floating through a void expanse of space, gathering their wits and deciding which direction to go, taking a much-needed break from missions and turmoil. But the inactivity left Keith to rot, a fever consuming him.

 

He was too restless to sleep, and couldn’t regulate his temperature. Tossing and turning for hours on end, he’d wake up grumpy and not even have an excuse for the bags under his eyes. Whenever he had told the others he was too hot, Lance had just smirked, saying something like,

 

“Wow. Don’t get so full of yourself now, Keith.”

 

Keith had just pursed his lips and walked right out of the room, clenching and unclenching his fists.

 

A week passed, and it began to show itself in his performance when training. He couldn’t focus, and tired easily--and of course, got an endless tirade of teasing and challenges from Lance. Shiro _knew_ though, they all _knew;_ but there was nothing that could be done.

 

And then, after a particularly terrible training session, Lance cornered Keith.

 

“--And _you,_ dios mio--What the _hell_ were you even thinking? I didn’t think you were _that_ self-absorbed, stumbling around and just saving your own skin.” Keith’s head snapped up tiredly, eyes bloodshot and face slack as Lance continued. His words echoed in the empty room. “Y’know, for someone who’s a _part_ of a _team,_ you sure don’t act like it.”

 

Keith had felt his nostrils flare at the accusation, and was on his feet before he could think. It was as if the air sizzled around him, growing hotter--and a small voice at the back of his mind told him to stop. But he couldn’t think. His mind was clouded, he was so _tired_ \--he gave in to the anger.

 

“Oh? And _you,_ Lance? The only teamwork you ever do is getting a wingman when you try and pick up _girls_ on those alien planets. What, couldn’t get any on Earth so you gotta give yourself to the first thing that moves and is _available?_ ” Lance’s eyes flashed with hurt and Keith’s nails dug hard into his palm. He was _done_ , done with this shit rivalry, done with not sleeping, done with _everything_. His mind didn’t even process the words spewing from his mouth like hot air. “At least I _try_ , as opposed to you, who half-asses anything he can-- _cargo pilot_.”

 

He knew at once he overstepped a boundary when he snapped those last two words, and it belatedly registered. Lance was in his face, now.

 

“Oh, what was that, wash-out? Had some _daddy issues_ at home so you couldn’t handle being at the top of the class anymore? Let your anger take the cake because that’s what _daddy_ did, r--” And Keith skipped any semblance of thought or consequence as his fist contacted Lance’s jaw, sending the lankier teen sprawling.

 

His hands were burning, and he groaned as he shuffled out the training deck, watching the heat waves radiate off his skin. It’s a small thought in the forefront of his mind that said, _I hope I didn’t burn Lance_ , but it’s too late. He _hurt_ Lance.

 

And Lance hurt him.

 

{--+--}

 

Keith was awake in his bed, but for many different reasons. Primarily, he hated himself, for what he said to Lance. But he also hated Lance, for what was said to _him._

 

They were just beginning to get better--their relationship had been improving, but now it was ruined. No more shared laughs, no more sparing sessions that ended in tickle fights, no more teasing and joking--all because of Keith’s hotheadedness.

 

The pain in his palms is now pulsing in his skin, sizzling just under the surface, and he’s sweating profusely. He's huddled under the covers, groaning, when Shiro finds him, the next day after missing breakfast and lunch. Just as Keith opens his mouth to explain it to Shiro--he blacks out.

 

Keith woke sometime afterward, sighing contentedly as he realized it was pleasantly cool around him. He blinked upwards to see Lance sitting somewhere in his peripheral, and with a sinking thought, knew that the only reason he was even able to function at the moment was because of Lance. Lance and his ice powers, which had saved everybody not a month earlier.

 

He moved to sit up, but Lance shoved him harshly back down. Keith peered at the other from behind his bangs, and he couldn’t tell what kind of expression Lance was wearing. It looked angry, but at the same time it was sad and worried and full of contempt.

 

“Lay down, _pendejo_. Don’t strain yourself.” The frost coated Lance’s lips, and Keith had the barest urge to reach up and touch them, just so if he could see if they were cold. Lance murmured something into his comm, and the next moment, the team came rushing in.

 

“Keith… why didn’t you say anything?” That was Shiro, dad mode activated. Keith just sighed, prying his eyes open once again and sitting up. He blocked Lance’s hand this time, and sent him a withering glare.

 

“... I… _did,”_ Keith rasped, and then coughed, because goddamn his throat was dry. Lance’s eyebrows shot up.

 

“You mean you mentioning to us that were _hot?_ ”

 

“We didn’t think it got _this bad,_ Keith,” murmured Hunk, his hands wringing the hem of his shirt. Keith just looked away. He was handed a glass of water, and he gratefully gulped it down.

 

“Yeah, well. What was I supposed to do?”

 

“You should have informed us that you could barely stand,” Allura said, voice clipped and carrying a weight of judgement in it that had Keith’s shoulders hunching in shame.

 

“And stop training?”

 

“Training isn’t more important than your health, Keith.” He just frowned at Shiro’s remark, unable to say anything to that.

 

“Is there any way to fix it?”

 

“Well, not really,” Allura said, “most of your powers activated accidentally. The red paladin’s manifestation has always been particularly fickle; it’ll take more than his will of wanting to release it to do so.”

 

“So… it’s been building up, causing Keith pain, and until he can let it go… it’ll get worse and worse,” remarked Lance, causing Keith to wince.

 

“Yes.”

 

The entire room went quiet, and Keith frowned down at his hands, his vision starting to blur. He shook his head, raising his palms to his face and almost recoiling at the touch. His hands were boiling hot.

 

“Keith… you’re literally heating up the entire room,” said Pidge. “If Lance wasn’t here you’d probably have melted the walls.”

 

“Yes… this is definitely problematic.” Coran walked up, waving his arms in front of him towards Keith, as if warming himself by a fire. “He can’t be outside or touch anything, else he’ll melt parts of the castle.”

 

“So, not only do I feel like shit… but I won’t be able to train or go on missions?”

 

“Well… depending on the mission,” Shiro said, uncertainly, “but more or less… yes.”

 

“It’d be better to just put me in a healing pod or one of those ice ones until--”

 

“No,” Allura interrupted. “Lance, you should keep Keith company--Keith, you should try to learn how to control your output.”

 

Keith glanced out of the corner of his eye to Lance, who seemed more than unhappy about being stuck to cool off the hothead. Shiro agreed with Allura, and then they were devising plans to help Keith control his heat.

 

He sighed inwardly, closing his eyes and letting their voices drone on, feeling his skin start to boil again.

 

{--+--}

 

The castleship landed on a rocky, desert-like planet, and as Keith walked out, he was briefly assaulted by a wave of nostalgia. He felt like he could just see his shack on the edge of the horizon, amongst the heatwaves and tumbleweeds, but then he raised his head, and saw the 3 suns in the planet’s sky. The feeling was gone.

 

The paladins trekked a ways away from the castle, Keith fiddling with his gloveless hands; he had taken them off in fear he would incinerate them. They settled down with Keith in the middle, putting on the headsets.

 

“Remember,” Allura said through their comms, “the headsets are only a device to amplify your feelings. Telepathy should do most of it. I’m going to watch you all from afar, and should anything happen, I’ll inform you.” She had given them a good luck, and then promptly shut out communication, to let the paladins devise this themselves. It was a short moment before Shiro spoke.

 

“Alright, guys. Let’s give Keith the feeling of how it was like to control our powers, to see if he can find it useful. First, I’ll go.” Shiro took a deep breath, and then sent a feeling through the connection; it was fleeting and wispy, flickering in their minds.

 

Keith frowned as he felt a breeze caress his cheek, an odd elation bubbling up inside him. It felt like his days in the Garrison when he had stolen that fighter plane and took it for a spin, all laughs and barrel rolls. It felt like his evening escapades on his hoverbike, the thrumming of the engine as it flew over the sand of the desert, the wind in his hair and his shirt flapping. It felt like a sunny day _,_ it felt like the _moment,_ it felt like _freedom._

 

But just as much as it was free, it was recklessness. It was putting yourself in the line of fire, it was doing things just because you could, it was unrestraint--it was the adrenaline pumping in your veins as you rushed at the enemy. Keith opened his eyes to see Shiro with a crooked smile on his face, and then, the feeling faded.

 

Shiro exhaled as he opened his eyes, glittering. “Did you feel that?”

 

“Yes,” said Pidge, almost a little breathless. Hunk and Lance nodded, and Keith felt his lips quirk, nodding ever so slightly.

 

“Good,” he murmured. Then, straightening: “Hunk, you’re up.” Hunk nodded, smile fading to something more uncertain and nervous, and he closed his eyes. The rest of the group did the same, and suddenly, a solid feeling hit him like he ran into a wall.

 

It was incredibly strong; it was the power in your calves as you sprint in the race, it was the feeling of being sure the ground would be under your feet when you jumped across a chasm. It was warm and left an oddly comforting feeling in the center of his chest; it was reassurance and a good pat on the back and trust.

 

But it was also crippling uncertainty; the fear for the ground beneath the others to fall away just as yours did not, the feeling when you see your best friend in pain, the feeling as you realize you can’t comfort the person sitting next to you.

 

“Good job, Hunk.”

 

“I feel you, buddy,” murmured Lance, and Keith felt more than saw Hunk’s smile.

 

“Pidge,” Shiro prompted, and Keith didn’t bother opening his eyes.

 

This feeling was a lot different than the others; it was colder, more neutral. It was the feeling of solving a part of the problem and moving onto the next, with an ache in your brow, tongue bitten in concentration. It was the knowledge you could beat them all by just your calculations alone, the feeling of confidence; of knowing who you were and knowing what you were about, of being so _sure_ that you would bet your life.

 

But it was also tireless nights, fruitless research; days and weeks and months of no progress. The feeling of frustration when your peers rejected your ideas, the feeling of discovering something you shouldn’t have. It was the realization that you uncovered something terrible--and watching the world run with your invention, using it for worse.

 

Though Keith knew this was Pidge’s essence--that each of the paladins had shown him their very core, none of them resonated with him. He had known that all along, but as his eyes flickered open, it left a bitter taste in his mouth that he was still no closer to finding out how to control the fire than he was before.

 

And then, it was Lance’s turn. It needed no verbal prompting, and Keith angled himself so he was facing the blue paladin.

 

It hit him so hard he could barely breathe; Lance’s feelings were swirling and changing and flowing around him, throughout him. It was a cool touch in his mind, and for a brief moment he lost all semblance in his own skin as the feeling enveloped him.

 

It was stepping on a puddle in a rainy day; it was running in the waves at the beach and plunging into the deep end of the pool under the sweltering hot sun. It was the cooling taste of a drink on your tongue, the chuckle of a close friend as they rolled their eyes at your joke. But more than that, it was aching sadness. It was the feeling of loss that penetrated him deepest; as if he had been pierced straight to his very core. He felt exposed, and in that vulnerability, he tried to reel back from the connection.

 

But then Lance reached into Keith, and prodded at the heat that he had felt in the last few days. And like a pin in a balloon, all at once it came pouring out, and Keith opened his mouth to say something, but his skin was aflame. It was all around him, and he could feel it leaking to the other connections, lighting them ablaze like a gas line.

 

It was the sweat in between your shoulder blades as you staggered through the desert, the rough shot of whiskey as it burned down your throat, the rasp of a cigarette on your tongue. It was laughing until you couldn't breathe, the breathlessness of winning the fight, and the spice of a ghost pepper as you bite into it--

 

He tried in vain to stop the flow, and his anger flared as he felt Lance pull more of it, which only served to send a fresh new wash over his teammates. This new sensation was entirely unpleasant, though; it was waiting by your bed at 3 am for the phone to ring, it was seeing the person you love die before your eyes, the heart monitor flatlining; it was the rejection you felt after confessing and the sting of tears as you lose. It was hurt and loneliness and fear--

 

He shrank back as he felt his own pain tear back at him; his skin was on fire, he was sure his veins were made of lava--he felt a scream rip through him, and his insides were being melted. He yanked the headset off and curled into himself, his head resting on the red, red rock--and Keith didn’t bother opening his eyes as his nose pressed into the ground.

 

Keith knew the mind-melding had stopped, but he felt that if he opened his eyes, he would see his skin dripping down underneath him. He heard muffled voices in the background, and could only groan and shake his head.

 

And then, he felt a touch on the nape of his neck, and cold surrounded him. All his cells stopped, all at once, and Keith felt nothing.

 

{--+--}

 

He jerked awake in his room, Lance asleep in a chair next to his bed. As soon as he let out a breath, the blue paladin was awake; scooting closer to peer at Keith.

 

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing Lance said, and Keith frowned, gaze travelling lazily up to finally rest on the other’s eyes. “I shouldn’t have--It wasn’t my place to… pull that from you.” Keith only closed his eyes, finding himself utterly burned out.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” he mumbled. But he couldn’t help the twinge of panic that ate at him, knowing the other paladins had felt the pain he had been enduring for the last week or so, and was also a bit ashamed that his power was fueled by so much of it.

 

He jumped slightly as he felt a cool hand on his forehead, and saw Lance looking at him with such a sad expression that Keith couldn’t help the surprise that showed on his face.

 

“What?” Lance said, almost bitterly. “Am I not allowed to be worried?” Keith opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

 

“I… are you?” Keith watched Lance’s face color slightly, his thoughts growing more clear the longer Lance’s hand was on his head. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say Lance looked… flustered.

 

“I--you--” he huffed suddenly, pulling back. Keith frowned deeply at the loss of contact. “Of course I am! How could I not be? You’re half dead in the fucking training room, walking around like a damn zombie, and not to mention you’re burning up like a furnace--I mean, how could I not be?” Lance stared intensely at Keith.

 

“You… don’t express your concern for me very well, do you?” Lance just crossed his arms, glaring at the floor.

 

The two sat in silence until Shiro came in, and he pulled Keith into a sitting position. He frowned as Shiro started talking at him, not really making sense of anything he was saying. Then, Lance placed his hand on Keith again, and Keith blinked, muttering a quick thanks as Shiro’s words got through the haze.

 

“... Uh. I guess I’ll just repeat an abridged version of what I said.” Keith nodded. “So, we’re going to be flying through a part of space where there’s increased Galra activity. We’re going to infiltrate a base in a few hours, and you’re going to stay here, Keith.” He jolted in indignation, frowning.

 

“Shiro, you--you can’t just leave me--”

 

“It’s my decision to, for your safety. We don’t want you collapsing in the middle of battle.”

 

“Shiro, I understand that. But--”

 

“Keith, you can’t even function without Lance around.” Keith turned his head to Lance, and the blue paladin didn't look at him.

 

“Uh, Shiro… what if Keith stuck with me for the whole entire mission?” Shiro’s gaze snapped to Lance, but instead of judging, it was contemplative.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Like,” Lance licked his lips, “what if I just kept Keith really, really close to me and went through the Galra base as a sort of decoy? Going around freezing everything. That way, Keith would stay infinitely cool, _like me,_ and--”

 

“That could work,” Shiro murmured, scratching his chin. “But what if you got separated?” Lance smirked, jerking a thumb at Keith.

 

“Tie him up to me. And if it gets loose, he’ll scream like a toddler without a lollipop so I’ll know exactly where he is.” Keith glowered at Lance’s comment, but not too harshly. If it got him with the team, then…

 

“Fine,” Shiro said, nodding. “You two go in as a diversion, and meanwhile Pidge and I will go to the computers to gather info. Hunk will support in his lion, waiting to get us out.”

 

As Shiro left to go inform the others of his plan, Keith just turned to Lance with a confused expression. Lance waved him off.

 

“You would have done the same thing,” was all he said.

 

{--+--}

 

The mission was simple enough, but the Galra complex was _huge._

 

“Okay, just _how_ do you expect us to create a big enough distraction?” Keith hissed, ducking quickly after Lance as the rope between them went taut. It was the same kind of material that Nyma used to handcuff Lance to that tree that one time, attached from Lance’s belt to his own.

 

“We, uh, go to the middle of the ship--”

 

“Without getting caught?”

 

“Sure--”

 

“Lance.”

 

“Okay, fine--” a brief pause as the two slid behind a wall and let a patrol pass. He turned to face Keith “What _amazing plan_ do you have in mind, _hot stuff?”_ Lance waggled his eyebrows at Keith, causing the other to roll his eyes and turn Lance’s cheek back to the hallway. He hoped the dim light would hide the flush on his face.

 

“We go to the generator room and create a _ton_ of problems.”

 

“Okay, cool, but consider this--let’s go to the hangar.” Lance pointed at the map he produced with Pidge’s scan of the base. They were closer to the hangar than the generators.

 

“But--ugh. Fine.” Keith was forced to follow as Lance dashed into the open, stumbling along. They stopped again on a corner, Lance peeking out and Keith angling his head to hear for footsteps. They continued their advance, until inevitably running into a set of patrols where five hallways intersected.

 

Without hesitation, Lance froze the entire area, and Keith smashed his bayard into the sentries, causing them to crumble. The two paladins smiled at eachother and ran into the hangar, Keith placing his hand on the doorpad and being rewarded when the barrier slid open.

 

The two of them ducked inside, hiding behind the wing of a ship and scanning where the soldiers were stationed. Looking at the other and shrugging briefly, Lance sprinted into the open, heading towards the very center of the area.

 

As the Galra began to fire, Lance created a thick encasement of ice around them.

 

“Okay, Keith. Time to breathe fire--so we _both_ don’t freeze.”

 

“Wait, what? _You_ can freeze?”

 

But Lance didn’t answer him as his eyes closed, and Keith frowned as his own breath was curling upwards inside the icy dome. And then Lance dropped down and his palms made contact with the metal floor of the hangar--Keith saw the trails of frost spread outward in a quick frenzy, and make contact with the dome--and then, it was as if a tsunami was running through the entire area.

 

The ice swamped the ships and the sentries; and the icy dome broke as Lance stood up. He gave Keith a huge, cheesy smile, complete with a thumbs up as snow began to float down around them. Keith just laughed, feeling better than he had in--forever. The two of them looked as if they were standing in the center of a huge, sparkling flower.

 

But the moment was quickly shattered as they saw Shiro and Pidge run in from an entrance on the other side of the room, followed by a plethora of sentries giving chase. Shiro pushed his urgency across the telepathic bond, and Keith and Lance sprung into action, dashing on a bridge of ice towards the other paladins.

 

Keith saw Pidge look around in wonder, and slip on a patch. He slid forward to catch the smaller teen in his arms, and hoped he didn’t burn him. Pushing a question of accomplishment through the bond back towards Shiro, he saw his head nod, and a confirmation on the other end.

 

“Hunk!” Shiro said through the radio, bounding forward to smash his purple arm through a soldier, “now!”

 

The comms only crackled slightly, and with his blood running cold, he pushed a feeling through the bond.

 

“Something’s interfering with the comms!” He tried to test Hunk’s end with the bond, but he couldn’t feel the yellow paladin anywhere. They were out of range.

 

“Hunk isn’t coming,” Pidge said, their voice laced with decisiveness. Keith fell back beside Lance, and his arm touched Pidge’s. They were in a formation, all facing outward as the sentries Lance had froze earlier broke out of their prison. Keith sent Lance a _look,_ but Lance just threw up his arms.

 

“Hey! What, did you think my ice would be the same potency from 400 feet away!?”

 

He was cut short by the Galran blasters firing straight at them, and with an unspoken signal, they pushed off and raised their weapons. There was only a slight problem.

 

Keith and Lance felt their line pull them both back into each other, feet slipping out from under them and sending them to the ground.

 

“Damnit!” Lance yelped, looking up at Keith, who looked up in alarm at a sentry raising its blade over Lance’s head. Keith opened his mouth, but Shiro was faster, fist emerging from the other side and tossing the body of metal to the floor. He said nothing, but kneeled in between Keith and Lance and brought his activated hand down, splitting the rope in two.

 

And then he pivoted away, back into battle to help Pidge fend off the wave. Keith and Lance took one look at the split rope, and then hopped into opposite directions, taking off and wreaking havoc.

 

Shiro used his wind to throw the sentries around, using graceful motions of his hands and body to direct the flow; Pidge threw seeds at the sentries and urged them to sprout, and among the ice there was now tiny flowers and roots interlacing the metal bodies of the sentries that had been taken down.

 

Lance used a more precise method of waves and motions to control his element; water and ice interchanging as he froze and shot the Galra, smirking as they shattered into a million pieces. He would also coat the sentries with water and turn them against the rest, and he watched in amusement as he employed one sentry after another to do his bidding.

 

Keith just dashed forward like he always has, swinging his bayard and disposing of the Galra. He was beginning to lose focus now that he was farther from Lance, and he could feel his skin start to bubble underneath his fingertips. But occasionally, he would feel a cool mist surround him, and his mind would grow sharper. When that happened, he would send his gratitude towards Lance, who responded with, _of course, idiot._

 

They were doing pretty well, working their pattern of attack and dodge, one helping the other, until Keith heard a large device whirr past his face and land somewhere behind. He turned to watch a round ball shoot stakes into the ground, and a great sound interrupted his movements as it expanded upward, revealing a crackling bolt of energy.

 

He watched as a commander walked in towards Shiro, an assistant at his heels with an oddly shaped gun. Keith turned to dispose of another sentry, but he heard Shiro gasp. Just in time, he twisted to feel something whizz past his arm, and saw Shiro flying towards the device. The assistant shot his gun at Pidge, then, and Pidge sent the information about the gun to Keith just as he figured it out.

 

The gun shot a ball of material that resonated with the device on the ground, and you were pulled inward by the force. Lance was taken quickly after, and Keith managed to dodge a few before he was winded in his chest by a sentry, and the shot easily got him in the shoulder.

 

And then he was being tugged backward at an alarmingly fast speed; the whirring grew unbearable as he hit the device _hard,_ causing him to yelp and Lance to grunt as they collided.

 

Keith struggled as he saw the commander and his assistant advance, insufferably triumphant smiles on their ugly purple faces. He snarled, twisting at the device, trying to see if he could rip it from his suit.

 

He was met with a jarring shock, his body going rigid and his teeth clenching involuntarily. And then he gasped as it stopped, the relieved sighs of his teammates ringing back into his ears. He was grateful as Lance’s hand brushed his hip, sending a wave of coolness throughout his body.

 

Their hands were suddenly pulled upwards by the device, and a cuff bound them uncomfortably above their heads. Without their hands, the team couldn’t easily use their powers. Keith still wiggled, though, very much in vain.

 

“Kill them,” said the commander and this time, the assistant picked up a blaster from a sentry that Keith had taken out, and cocked it, pointing it directly at them. Just was he was sure the guy was going to pull the trigger, the commander put up a hand. The gun was lowered, and the commander walked around the device, surveying the paladins.

 

As those yellow eyes flickered over him, Keith growled, low in his throat, and the commander stepped on his hand. He grunted in pain, not quite a yell, but not low enough to be a hiss. Lance jerked his hand at the commander, and a tiny wave of ice crawled up his foot. The commander smirked, pressing a button, and they were shocked for a longer period of time.

 

Keith searched desperately for Hunk out in the bond, but his mind was muddled and he nudged at the other’s minds to see if they could do the same. They responded negative. Hunk couldn’t be reached.

 

“I think,” the commander said, clasping his hands behind his back, “I’m going to start with _you.”_ He stepped over Lance, and Keith felt panic grip him. It must have leaked through to the others, because Lance knocked their feet together. Keith wrenched his head over to gaze at the blue paladin, and didn’t know how he felt about the crooked smile the other gave him, a nudge of reassurance through the bond.

 

A flash caught Keith’s eye, and Lance was suddenly screaming; Keith jerked to see the commander had stuck a dagger straight into his thigh and white-hot anger flashed through him. He glared at the commander, who caught sight of him, and moved forward, straight into Keith’s breathing space.

 

“What? Angry?” The Galra recoiled as Keith’s spit landed on his cheek, and Lance let out a bark of a laugh. In response, the commander walked backward, putting a hand on the assistant’s shoulder.

 

The assistant handed the gun over to the other, and suddenly, shots burned holes in his arms and legs. By the pain that radiated through the connection with the other paladins, they were getting shot too.

 

And Keith felt frustration fill him; there was nothing they could do. They had failed, and Hunk wasn’t coming unless he heard their distress; his hope that he had decided to barge in anyway was fading quickly, as his head bowed under the strain of the pain overflowing through them. The others were unconsciously sharing their own wounds with him, and it felt like he was full of holes.

 

Through it all, Keith managed to lift his head one last time; and what he saw made his heart stop. The commander was directly in front of Lance, the blaster held directly under his chin. Keith saw the commander mouth something, but couldn’t make out what it was--that purple finger was tightening around the trigger, and Keith was yelling something--and then, he saw red.

 

He didn’t quite know what was happening as he felt tears dry up on his cheeks, but all he knew was that he wanted that Galra _gone._ When he pictured Lance hurt, when he pictured any of his teammates hurt--he couldn’t stand it. When he pictured them dead--that was when he lost it.

 

And death, at the moment, was as imminent as it had ever been.

 

He came to as a fire swirled in front of his eyes, and he was briefly confused as to why it had come up in the first place. Then, he realized that the simmering under his skin was gone, and that his chest felt lighter. The heat under his skin had finally come out, and it was a vortex around the paladins, protecting them from anything outside it. He looked over and saw Lance glancing over with a wonderstruck expression, the flames doing beautiful things to his eyes.

 

The fire dispersed, suddenly, and Keith looked around to find all the ice in the room melted. There was no sign of any Galra, dead or alive or sentry or flesh and bone. Lance hollered a moment later, and Shiro had sent his approval through the connection, Pidge letting out a sigh.

 

“Jesus, that was enough stress to take 5 years off my life,” they said, slumping. “Now, uh, how do we get out?”

 

Keith let his head drop, his eyelids fluttering closed. Waves of exhaustion overtook him, and he didn’t wait to see Hunk arrive to take them all away, an hour later, when the yellow lion had swooped in under the impression that they were taking too long.

 

{--+--}

 

Keith stumbled out of a healing pod two days later, being caught by cool hands and a dorky smile. He felt only the presence of the blue paladin, and he let himself relax for a bit.

 

“Hey, hot stuff,” Lance breathed, tickling his ear, and Keith was still too disoriented to respond. But after his mind started working, he straightened in Lance’s grip, noticed the _knowing_ smile the other gave him, and pushed him away.

 

Lance laughed as Keith began to fall, his legs buckling and Lance grabbed onto his shoulder, and the two of them tumbled to the ground. Keith peered up into Lance’s face, taking note of the way they were inches apart, that each of Lance’s thumbs were directly beside Keith’s ears, and that Lance wasn’t laughing anymore, just staring intently down at the other.

 

Keith opened his mouth to say something, but Lance darted quickly forward, placing a quick kiss on his mouth. It was sudden and it felt nice--and oh god, now he didn't have to _wish_ for this anymore, it was actually happening--Lance pulled away and Keith immediately flushed, and Lance laughed again, just deepening Keith’s embarrassment.

 

“Holy shit, Keith,” he whispered, and Keith looked back up at him, confused. “You’re literally turning the air 10 degrees hotter because you’re so _flustered._ ” Keith pushed up at Lance, forcing him back.

 

“Shut up! I am _not_ flustered,” Keith hissed, trying to stand and having to rely on Lance to pull the two of them up.

 

“I don’t know, man, you could say you’re just _burnin’_ with love.” Keith smacked Lance on the arm.

 

“That was terrible!”

 

“You loved it,” he said, tilting his head and giving the other a shit-eating grin.

 

“That’s none of your business,” Keith mumbled. He brushed past the other and walked into the hall, to find Shiro or Hunk or maybe just his bed. Lance followed behind, laughing all the while.

 

“I mean, I think it is, seeing as how this ‘love’ includes _me_.”

**Author's Note:**

> >>>edit: sheesh im... kind of embarassed at the amount of mistakes in here. I fixed them, though, so this should be an easier read. Thank you for reading!
> 
> im. okay so in biology we just had this really gross summer assignment where we had to make a powerpoint of literally every phylum in the classification system for organisms--ANYWAY in that i came across nemalion--its an actual thing. it's a genus of red algae and it looks fucking gross (almost like worms or long spindly slugs) and so i thought to myself, hey, coran would totally try to cook with something that looks like this so here we are the rest is history.
> 
> uh. emotional development? whats that? hopefully this was enough and also not too shounen. I mean, i watch too much shounen anyway but--throws this at u
> 
> find me on [tumblr](http://neoroxas.tumblr.com) and [twitter](http://www.twitter.com/seasaltsun)  
> 


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